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The pandemic has been hard on all of us, but it was especially hard on emerging artists. Many musicians faced delays in releasing their projects, and those artists who were trying to break into the scene had an uphill battle all the way, trying to draw as much attention as they could through continuous cautionary COVID-19 headlines. Now, however, we have a little breathing space to catch up on all we missed.
One such artist who did not receive nearly as much attention as she deserved was Evvie McKinney, a genuine star in the making. McKinney made a name for herself on the first season of Fox’s The Four: Battle for Stardom, when she won first place in 2018. By 2020, she released her first single, a delightful and personal tune she cowrote with her musical mentor, pop icon Meghan Trainor.
The song was an excellent introduction for this emerging artist. The biographical nature of the lyrics explained everything that McKinney is about: family, faith, and fantastic music. The high energy song set the entire tone of her musical style, which is tailormade to produce smiles, as well as some impromptu dancing, from those who listen to it.
In 2022, McKinney made some waves in the industry with the release of her second single, “Just Like God.” This imaginative song of faith combines the Motown, rock, pop, Gospel, and soul styles to make a song that is both fun and tender. This 25-year-old singer puts on an absolute clinic in vocal performance, showing off an expansive range with a voice that seems just as enormous when she’s belting out notes as when she’s softly transitioning through her melisma sections.
The song reached number one on the Billboard Gospel National Airplay chart in 2022. According to a press release, McKinney said of “Just Like God”:
“I wrote ‘Just Like God’ to express my heart: While I try never to be surprised by what God does, I want to always remain in awe of him doing it.”
Now McKinney has released her first full length album, titled Love, Evvie McKinney, with her flagship song “But God.” Putting her faith right back in the forefront, “But God” sounds like a soulful Motown classic, with a chorus that reaches into Gospel territory with a full choir of voices backing her up. The song is tremendous in every way and is a shoo-in for Christian playlists.
There is much more great music on Love, Evvie McKinney than we could ever cover in just one piece. We’ll be back to take a second, deeper look at the full album soon, but until then interested readers can explore more of Evvie McKinney's phenomenal and growing catalog of exceptional music on her website, Spotify, YouTube, and just about any other service that streams high quality music.
